Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
There is a policy. It requires the school to notify the Health Department of the County. The school personnel are to encourage the girl to speak with her parents. If she is unwilling to do that, the school is to notify the Health Department and the Health Department determines the next steps--which is likely an abortion. At no time should school personnel advise the girl on her future actions.
And, yes, if it is a case of incest or rape, Child Protective Services should step in. If this were the case and the school did not follow procedures, then the perpetrator does not get punished. That is why it is turned over to the proper authorities to handle it---WHICH IS NOT THE SCHOOL.
Anonymous wrote:
The issue is not the abortion. The issue is whether or not the school suggested it and supported it. This is not the role of the school. Period.
And, I support what Clinton said; legal and rare
This language right here is the tell. All the right-wingers in an election year trying desperately to manufacture the 2021 trans bathroom repeat. "The school" didn't do anything wrong. FCPS didn't do anything wrong. One counselor allegedly took pity on a student and tried to help her out. She went outside of the rules and probably should be fired. That's it. There's no broader scandal here, nothing FCPS did wrong. Just a pathetic attempt by Republicans to further divide our country and tear down public schools so that they can live in their theocratic utopia.
Anonymous wrote:
The issue is not the abortion. The issue is whether or not the school suggested it and supported it. This is not the role of the school. Period.
And, I support what Clinton said; legal and rare
This language right here is the tell. All the right-wingers in an election year trying desperately to manufacture the 2021 trans bathroom repeat. "The school" didn't do anything wrong. FCPS didn't do anything wrong. One counselor allegedly took pity on a student and tried to help her out. She went outside of the rules and probably should be fired. That's it. There's no broader scandal here, nothing FCPS did wrong. Just a pathetic attempt by Republicans to further divide our country and tear down public schools so that they can live in their theocratic utopia.
We do not know yet how much the administration knew. But, we have evidence that they were aware and do not know of any action against the school personnel.
And, maybe none of it is true. But, that seems unlikely.
Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
In that case you call CPS. Like you literally make the case for why that should be the next step of you have any reason to believe their is physical, emotional or sexual abuse in the home.
An abortion in that case literally is a bandaid on a bullet hole. The kid needs way more help than just the abortion.
Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
There is a policy. It requires the school to notify the Health Department of the County. The school personnel are to encourage the girl to speak with her parents. If she is unwilling to do that, the school is to notify the Health Department and the Health Department determines the next steps--which is likely an abortion. At no time should school personnel advise the girl on her future actions.
And, yes, if it is a case of incest or rape, Child Protective Services should step in. If this were the case and the school did not follow procedures, then the perpetrator does not get punished. That is why it is turned over to the proper authorities to handle it---WHICH IS NOT THE SCHOOL.
Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
Sooo...
In that case, the teacher is a mandatory reporter and required by state and federal law to immediately report the crime of rape by incest to her police department.
A teacher,s failure to report something like your mythical situation would be a fireable offense and a crime. So if what you are imagining is what happened, it is just as big of a scandal as the abortion story.
Anonymous wrote:"Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) tells 7News Reporter Nick Minock that they are launching an investigation into claims that school staff arranged abortions for students and didn’t tell their parents."
There needs to be more done than the school system investigating itself. This is wild.
Anonymous wrote:There's protocol for staff in these situations. This wasn't it. I'm pro-choice but if this student was in an unsafe situation, as some people have suggested, that's a CPS issue and you document accordingly. You're not supposed to wing it and hope no one finds out.
Exactly. Look at all of the admin put on leave and re assigned because they didn’t follow proper CPS protocols. Not saying this happened but not calling CPS and stealing are the top two reasons a principal loses their job.
No, it is not. In many cases it is not even surgery at all; it is medicine. For *surgical* first trimester abortions, it is a minor procedure. It does not typically involve anesthesia beyond twilight sedation. A colonoscopy is more involved, requiring general anesthesia typically. A root canal takes 10 times as long. I've known women to go back to work that afternoon; not comfortably or ideally, as there is some bleeding/discharge afterward typically, but it's doable. It's not major surgery by any stretch.
That said, I wouldn't want my child to have one without me knowing...but if my stepchild who is all grown now did not feel like she could come to me or her mom or dad in HS when she got pregnant, I would be very grateful for the kindness and care of a trusted, safe adult who could help her through it. I would be grateful she was not totally alone and that there was a dedicated enough school staff member who'd go out of her way to help.
The girl was 5 months pregnant. I’ve had a d&e at 5 months. It is major surgery and required general anesthesia and follow up appointments. You just don’t know what you’re talking about.
I was responding to a general comment that said, "Abortion is major surgery." In general, no, it is not.
Even terminations at 5 months are generally not major surgery. They are still done mostly in outpatient settings, sometimes over several days. But no, still not major cutting. Yes, discomfort and bleeding, but not major abdominal incisions or anything. Significantly more complex than a 1st trimester procedure, but still not "major surgery".
Again, I wouldn't want my 17 year old to have this surgery without me knowing. But if judicial bypass allowed it, and if she could not tell me then for whatever reason, I would be infinitely grateful that a trusted adult at school helped her.
Any attempts to minimize the physical and emotional implications of an abortion can’t negate the facts:
Abortion risks include immediate complications like heavy bleeding, infection, and injury to organs, as well as potential long-term risks such as increased risk of future premature births, certain mental health issues, and possible infertility from rare complications like scarring.
Emotional experiences following an abortion vary, and while many individuals feel relief, common emotions also include sadness, guilt, anxiety, and a sense of loss, which are normal responses to a significant life event. For some, there can be prolonged or severe distress, including depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts. These negative reactions are often linked to factors like pre-existing mental health issues, inadequate support, or pressure to have the abortion.
Furthermore, not all parents are willing to outsource to others the decision making process and the material and emotional support their child needs during a crisis of this magnitude. Just because the students were Hispanic whose families weren’t as present as others’ in the students’ lives, it doesn’t mean they couldn’t have gotten the support they needed from their loved ones. It wasn’t for FCPS to usurp the parental role and get involved the way they did.
When abortion was illegal women maimed themselves in order to get relief from unwanted pregnancies, think about that for a moment. They took clothes hangers and shoved them into their vaginas, they threw themselves down steps, they drank poison, put it into their vaginas.
Or they went into back alley clinics and faced even worse horrors and indignities. They were maimed and scared for life.
And for the record this was the case for mostly women without means. If you had connections or wealthy parents, You went to a real doctor, who discretely offered you safe medical care, you didn’t have to butcher yourself or be butchered. The decision was made for you by the adults in the room,
oftentimes under duress, control and coercion. That’s what coercion looked like before abortion was legal.
The others they maimed themselves, bled, died, lost their fertility, they knew the rusks but they did it anyway. These weren’t the safe, statistically risk free, and with anesthesia, pain free procedures they are today.
Today you can go out for burgers afterward and be at the mall picking out your party clothes for that party on Friday.
This is why abortion became legal, so that women without means could get access to safe medical care. People forget because there is no one to remind them.
Is there not a world where you can imagine that others have entirely different lives, motivations, and situations where they might actually feel nothing more than relief. At not feeling pregnant anymore at not having the burden and responsibility for bringing a life into this world that for whatever reason they don’t want to.
Most people don’t suffer from preexisting mental illness, so they don’t sink into depression afterwards, rather they go on with their lives, have many more experiences, lose loved ones that mean the world to them, have hopes die, dreams go unfulfilled, they find joy and live full lives anyway. And that abortion they had at 17 does’t even register as a footnote.
Life is hard enough, growing from a young girl/woman to a mature, successful and responsible adult woman is extra hard. I don’t begrudge anyone who chooses to not do it the extra hard way, and for some, especially those without means, that means doing it with a dependent strapped to their back either emotionally, figuratively or literally.
As for FCPS as forced institutional abortion proponents. I call BS.
I think you are minimizing the emotional damage. You don't have to "suffer from preexisting mental illness" to experience grief or depression after an abortion. Believe it or not some people really do struggle with their decision afterwards. It is infinitely helpful to have a family at home to support you - which in this case was denied due to actions by FCPS.
Agree. Accountability is ESSENTIAL here.
I'd put money on the being 17 and having a baby you can't support will make you way more depressed than any medical procedure ever will. Ever heard of post-partum depression, yeah that's serious, really serious, people die from that and guess what there is only one way to get it and that's by having a baby.
Most people don't suffer depression afterwards. I don't know that girl, but if she was able to walk across that stage with her peers and get her diploma, go to her prom and make unhindered plans for her future then there is a pretty good chance she was too anticipating the next stage of her life, and wasn't sitting at home in a puddle of tears regretting her decision to end an unwanted pregnancy.
Being up all night feeding and changing a screaming baby, would be pretty darn depressing for any 17 year old I know. Young people are resilient when it comes to temporary set backs, which an unplanned pregnancy that ends in termination is. A temporary set back. You feel your feels and then life goes on. Babies aren't temporary they are a lot of work and responsibility.
Any lingering emotions pale in comparison to the depression she would have felt being up all night feeding and changing a baby, poopy, vomitous infant.
If you are pro-life you are pro-life but enough with the abortion is going to wreck your life nonsense. For most people there are no negatives to it, if you are fragile enough to crack up after an abortion, guess what the baby would have pushed you way over the edge, in that scenario, there is the real possibility for tragedy. Abortions aren't tragic they are a safe and finite medical procedure.
Good grief. Regardless of how one feels about abortion - whether pro-choice or pro-life - IS NOT THE ISSUE HERE. The issue is that school staff has NO jurisdiction over students, and no authority to facilitate an abortion for a student. The parents/guardians should have been notified, period. You don't need to lecture anyone about your thoughts on abortion. And ftr, I happen to be pro-choice. Just stick to the issue at hand.
At the end of the day the fact is, assuming this bogus story has any merit, that the only duty was familial, the student could have and perhaps should have told her mother, parent or guardian that she was pregnant, but if any part of this story is to be believed she didn’t.
It isn’t FCPSs duty to notify the parents of a pregnancy. It isn’t illegal to be pregnant or did I miss something?
The only quasi fact I’ve seen is a letter that recollects a third party conversation (so not really a fact, more like hearsay) written by the “whistle blower” where she recounts the student came to Zenaida Perez (whistle blower) for advice re the pregnancy scare because the social worker told the student to talk to go to the county health department, or to “ talk to a teacher” for advice. Uhm I don’t know but the whole social worker advice to go to the county health department sounds like good advice to me and like they say every lie has a kernel of truth, sounds like truth to me.
Interestingly every other “document” cited to in the FOX story has been scrubbed from their website. That is the only that remains and it’s no smoking gun.
It isn’t FCPS duty to notify the parent that a student is nosing around and seeking family planning or abortion advice. They have no duty to report that to anyone.
Sorry if that makes you angry, or a woman’s right to sermonize makes you angry, but FCPS doesn’t have a duty to discuss a suspected pregnancy with anyone’s parents unless or until that actual pregnancy hinders a students ability to attend school.
This story is about abortion as a mid-term wedge issue, and if you care about a woman’s right to choose you shouldn’t be lecturing me you should be angry at the sick right wing political machine that is pumping out this nonsense.
Malicious and fake news, the purposeful circulation of false information like this, mixed with emotion and treated as undisputed fact, which gets repeated at loud volumes, over and over again to low information people, who have the ability to vote, is seriously damaging the lives of women and people all over this country.
Be a part of it if you must, but direct your outrage for someone who is more naive.
Do better PP.
It's quite clear that you desperately want to sweep this under the rug so as not to damage FCPS's reputation (further). You insist this is "malicious and fake news" - where is your evidence? Has this been proven to be fake news? If so, please provide a source. Oh, and take your own advice: do better.
It's just amazing to me the lengths people like you will go to insist this story is fake - without any actual evidence of such.
Another PP said that an independent party needs to investigate all of the claims and I agree. And if it turns out none of this is true, I'd actually be very relieved and happy to admit I was wrong. You, otoh, I highly doubt would ever admit to being wrong.
Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. So what if a girl is pregnant and goes to her counselor for help, the counselor should just say "go talk to your momma" even though the girl knows that momma will just beat her and force her to have a baby she doesn't want? THANK YOU to the staff who helped these girls.
+1. Some people are just trying to sh** on teachers who are trying to help messed up kids. For all you know it could have been a case of incest and the parent of the pregnant teenager is on meth and the teen just asked about options.
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